Friday, 8 August 2014

Mere Anarchy - Woody Allen

MERE
ANARCHY - WOODY ALLEN

He is, of course, a genius. It's to be acknowledged, however, that
not everyone finds him funny whilst at the same time others prefix
the word 'genius' with the word 'comic' though personally I wouldn't
equivocate. He's a genius and an artist to boot.

In a career that spans more than 50 years and includes such films as
Annie Hall, Manhattan, and Hannah And Her Sisters, Woody Allen has
created a body of work that most other film makers can only stand in
awe of. Director, actor, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, musician
- he's all these things and more, and if this wasn't enough there's
also his complicated and troubled personal life too.

It's for his films that he's obviously known but another string to
his bow is that of writer and for many years he's been a regular
contributor to The New Yorker magazine, serving up short vignettes to
its readership. Any publication in the world would happily accept a
submission from Woody Allen but he chooses to stick with The New
Yorker in the same way he chooses to dine at the same restaurant and
to play jazz at the same bar. Though steeped in the influence of
European art-house cinema and appreciated more on the Continent than
in America, he's still at heart a native of New York who has the
city's blood flowing through his veins. Or as he put it in the
opening scene of Manhattan: 'He was as tough and romantic as the
city he loved. Behind his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual
power of a jungle cat. New York was his town and it always would be'.

Mere Anarchy is a collection of eighteen of his short stories,
nine of which were previously published in The New Yorker and nine
not published anywhere else before. At just 160 pages it's a
relatively slim publication though this actually works in its favour,
accentuating the fact that it's not anything overly ambitious.
Essentially it's a collection of snapshots, observations and sketches
that serves as a rebuttal to the oft-voiced criticism that Woody
Allen has lost his sense of humour. His films may no longer be the
stream of one-liners they once were but he's still a very funny guy
who's able to concoct comedy from the most meagre and absurd sources,
often being just an innocuous item in The New York Times.

On reading this collection it's apparent that he's very much a
wordsmith who takes great joy in the English language, from New York
slang terms to overtly highfalutin expressions. It's also apparent
that he has almost a slavish attachment to specific themes; the
obvious one being the neurotic, nervous intellectual who makes
several appearances, alongside the mores of New York middle class
society. As in many of his films there are also all kinds of
intellectual references but it's invariably kept in check and
prevented from entering the realms of pretentiousness by giving the
characters the most stupid of names.

Though it's written by a genius, I would point out that Mere Anarchy
isn't by any means a work of genius. In fact, it's more like bread
crumbs from the table so I wouldn't urge anyone to rush out and hunt
down a copy (or to even head over to Amazon). I would, however, urge
the uninitiated to watch the films because - well, they're absolutely
genius.